Friday, July 29th, 2011
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Welcomes the Hate, Battlefield 3 Looking to Gain
There is a war going on. One that will permeate around the industry come this October and November, and two of the biggest franchises in gaming are about to go head to head.
In one corner rests the challenger, Battlefield 3. A franchise built from the PC and dedicated to this title is hitting at the opponent with a new engine and one of the biggest marketing campaigns in recent memory. In the other corner rests the champion, Modern Warfare 3, a title built on pedigree and two of the most successful entertainment launches of all time.
There is a lot at stake for EA and Activision for this next round in modern shooter titles. Long has Activision stood at the top with Call of Duty, after the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the publisher has been pushing out new titles every year looking to keep fans engaged.
This year, however, they will release another Modern Warfare without the backing of the series’ creators. A fractured studio has been mended with a major hiring blitz and the support of three other studios within Activision.
Through all of this, Infinity Ward Creative Strategist Robert Bowling is looking forward to retaking the crown in 2011.
“We may have the number one selling game,” he said to Kotaku. “We may have, at times, the number one most played game. So it’s very easy to sit back and say. ‘We’ve done our jobs perfectly. We have the best game ever created. Look at the numbers.’”
“But then you can get online and have people kick dirt in your face constantly every day about anything that they may not like about the game. It allows you to have a gut check and a perspective that this is where we still need to go. This is work that we still need to do.”
With a crown comes a lot of envy, and the online fan-fest between Call of Duty and Battlefield is heating up even more. To Bowling and the MW3 team, “Any game that has two very different audiences, you’re going to see it…It’s what it is. It’s what games have been forever.”
They look forward to taking on the challenge, but curiously did not mention Battlefield 3 as an actual competitor.
Interestingly enough, the DICE fellows have also pointed out that they are not out there to take on Modern Warfare 3. To them, their title is on a different world, to be seen as a war, not a grunt fight.
“Our game focuses on this battlefield experience. Even if it’s not a big map it feels like a big map,” says DICE brand manager Kevin O’Leary to Kotaku in a separate piece. “We give you so many tools; you can choose your vehicles, your weapons, your class.”
DICE is simply looking to take over the shooting category, and the mainstream audience is the key thanks to what Frostbite 2 can deliver. As far as they are concerned, Modern Warfare 3 is a different class of shooter, one with its own merit and style.
The war is not against each other perhaps, but in sales…or so they tell us.
[Source: Industry Gamers]
